Frustrating

Nike has a very long and much vaunted history with its Mercurial Series and almost every single release has its own diehard fans (for the most part) and still continues to be one of, if not the top selling football boot lines in the world. They are everywhere, on every pitch, at every pick up game, at any place involving football they are inescapable. It because of this that Nike always faces huge pressure to deliver on each new model. While Nike has a really good record of delivering, there have been some misses. With the new Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor 16 Elite they seem to have delivered, but it can also be argued that they also have failed to deliver as well.

Fit and Feel

Most people could probably draw what a Mercurial normally looks like. Sleek and fast looking without an overcomplicated design. Keeping this in mind it is surprising when first taking the boots out of the box as they look overly bulky. There is a lot of material and the massive “AIR” branding on the heel does no favours. I normally do not comment on the looks of boots because if they perform, they perform. But the newest Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor 16 just looks big. It is almost as if the designers forgot they were designing a Mercurial.

On the flip side however, is the feel of the new Vapor in hands. This because the upper feels incredible. Any fears that Gripknit would make for a poor upper on a Mercurial quickly fades because the material feels so ridiculously soft and pliable. It has a slightly waxy feel to the touch, and it feels pretty obvious that Nike worked hard to one up themselves when it comes to the upper. Not only is it super soft, but it also feels premium. It really feels like you are (mostly) getting your money’s worth. In my opinion, it is the best upper ever put on a Mercurial. It is that good.

The fit is good, mostly. This is where we start to see some issues with the boot. To start with a positive, the upper has plenty of width so that wider footed people can fit in the boot but it is still able to provide a good fit for those of us with a medium to narrow foot width. However, this does come at a cost. During wear, there are some noticeable and weird gaps in the fit. The most noticeable one is the heel, which we will touch on more later. Another spot is towards the rear of the midfoot which causes some bunching, even after the boots break in. There has also been some bunching just below the laceholes on the outside of the boot, making it feel like the laces cannot be tightened enough to get a more snug fit in this area.

Going back to the heel, there is a tone of cushioning and like the upper, it feels premium. However, the shaping of the heel is far too wide, especially given that this is a Mercurial and they are supposed to fit tighter. Because of this width, there are gaps around the ankle of the boot and it causes the heel to not feel properly locked in. In fact, while running it feels like my heel is not securely locked in and that it might slip out. This is an issue even when wearing grip socks. Even worse is that in spite of all of the cushion, I still feel heel pressure when running at speed.

This is a pretty good point to bring up the lockdown. It is below average for a Mercurial and it is surprising how little tightening up the laces seems to affect this. The lacing system seems poorly designed and because the heel has a wider fit means that the foot never feels properly locked in. One of the things I noticed when running and cutting in the boot is that it feels like there is a gap below the bottom rear of my midfoot and the boot itself. This means that when making cuts and sharp turns there is some noticeable foot shifting inside of the boot. This is not helped by the fact that there is little in the way of stable support on the side of the boot, which causes the upper to feel overly flimsy.

The Air Zoom system also feels far too soft, and it can be felt shifting from under the weight of the foot and body when pushing off. Add that into the fact the springback is average at best and not noticeable at worst. The Air Zoom cushioning has only some slight springback until it completely gives way and actually seems to be a hinderance to the boot rather than a positive. What’s even worse is that the Air Zoom unit makes you very aware that you are on top of something. It is the polar opposite of something like the Vapor 11 in which it was designed for the foot to sink into the soleplate.

To touch again on the upper, it feels so outstanding to the point that it feels like it is massively let down by other parts of the boot. The aglets have the Mercurial branding on them, which is something you’d want from a high end boot, but the laces themselves feel extremely cheap, almost like a replacement pair of laces you could find in the kid’s shoe section of a big box store. The insole has some cool branding on it, but it also feels ridiculously cheap and even some brand’s mid range boots have superior insoles. It is baffling that for the high end price of the Vapors, Nike decided to cut such obvious corners. I know Nike has been trying to cut costs, but this is absolutely unacceptable for a boot this expensive.

As for sizing, I went with my normal Nike size, which is my true to size and the fit was perfect in the length. So, go true to size if you are buying a pair.

Touch

There have been a lot of negatives in this review but many of those are forgotten once getting to the pitch with a ball. The feel on the ball is superb. The upper is thin and has an almost thin sock-like touch on the ball. It is so easy to manipulate the ball in the Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor 16 that it is silly. The Gripknit sounds unnecessary until you get your foot on the ball and then you realise why Nike decided to go with this material (aside from cost cutting, of course). It makes one wish that Nike had slapped Gripknit on the Mercurial sooner and it feels finely tuned for the Vapor.

While it has a slightly waxy feel, it is definitely less grippy than the Phantom GX 2. Much like the Phantom GX 2 though, the touch shines in adverse conditions. The touch makes a mockery of rain, and you feel just as assured on the ball in both wet and dry conditions. It is so good that I hope Nike keeps this upper for the next Mercurial, because I am somewhat at a loss for words at how good this upper feels on the ball.

Being a Mercurial, there is a mostly uniform feel on the ball which means that dribbling in theory should feel really good. And it does, except for the fact that Nike bizarrely made the giant Swoosh on the outside of the foot feel slick and there is none of that waxy feeling that most of the upper has. It is not a huge inconvenience, but it feels like a bizarre choice especially in context that the upper is made from Gripknit, which means it should be grippy.

Passing and Shooting

Even weirder is that because of the placement of the Swoosh on the inside of the foot, there is a slick surface right on the part of the foot where passes are often received and distributed from. It is such an odd decision given that so much of the touch on the Vapor relies on the grippy nature of the upper and one of the main spots where you would want grip has very little because Nike has to have their branding.

Nonetheless, Gripknit excels again when it comes to hitting long balls or taking shots. The thinner nature of the upper means you do get that pingy sensation that Nike does better than anyone else. There is almost nothing between your foot and the ball which means that when adding power to any ball means there is a very raw sensation that provides instantaneous feedback. The slightly tacky feel also means that bending the ball feels awesome and it is really enjoyable to put a little spin on the ball every chance you get.

Unfortunately, shooting is another spot where the fit and the soleplate rear their ugly heads. The poor fit in the heel means that the lack of lockdown is very noticeable when hitting the ball with power. Every single time the upper begins to really impress the lack of lockdown means that the foot slides around in the boot and it means that the foot strains itself to stay in place. The soleplate does a decent job of anchoring the foot down, but decent is no longer good enough in this market.

Grip

The soleplate is super aggressive and there is a ton of grip for both sprints and cuts, but this is again let down by the fit of the boot. When cutting, the Air Zoom is supposed to compress and push back on your foot in order to propel you forward. Unfortunately, in practice the Air Zoom unit compresses and that’s it. There is little to no pushback, and it feels like it might pop. Especially when cutting, it is really easy to feel the unit compress on the ball on your foot. And even more worrying is that there is noticeable stud pressure on the bottom of the ball of the foot and in the heel.

The Air Zoom unit also only provides a bit of stability in the midfoot until it again completely gives way. This causes the foot to torsion weirdly when making tight cuts and the super aggressive soleplate makes this issue even more obvious. It is annoying because the actual soleplate, that is the bottom of the boot, feels really high end but Nike should have gone with a more traditional midfoot shank and forefoot.

Having the ridges down the middle of the forefoot are an interesting idea, but they feel like they add little to nothing grip wise. It is probably better than it being a negative addition. The flip side is that they do feel nice to use on the ball.

Lastly, do not wear the firm ground model on artificial or hard ground. The studs are far too aggressive and constantly get caught up in the turf. Get the artificial grass model instead if you play on multiple surfaces.

Conclusion

Reviewing the Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor 16 Elite has been one of the weirdest experiences as a reviewer. The upper is utterly brilliant, but it is let down by a weird fit. The soleplate is really aggressive but does not have much snap back. There are lots of lovely details on the boot, the parts of it feel really cheap. It is a hugely frustrating boot that I kept wanting to love, but it refused to love me back. For some people they will love the Vapor 16, for me Nike has a lot to improve upon.

What do you think about the Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor 16 Elite? Please share this with your friends and make sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook! Also, please check out my and BootWizard Boot Reviews podcast, The Football Boot Hour, which is on BootWizard Boot Review’s YouTube channel.

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